That Third Cup of Tea

Dusk Skyline
October 2009 Outside Raleighwood, NC
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Have you ever heard of the book "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortensen?

In short, it's about a guy who spent all of his time working, scrimping and saving to afford his next mountain climb. During an incredibly difficult climb in Pakistan he had to give up the final assent to rescue a fellow climber who was near death. After an incredibly arduous descent with the injured climber he became separated from his guide and was lost. After surviving a difficult, frozen night he retraced his steps and found himself, eventually, in a mountain village in Pakistan. The villagers welcomed him, nurtured him back up to health and, while trying to find a way to repay their kindness, he embarked on a journey to build the village a school.

That journey, through a generous endowment, became a life's work -- to build schools for Pakistani children, both boys and girls, in remote, poor regions of the country. And, in so doing, he's shown that the way to Win the Hearts and Minds of the Pakistani People is not through "nation building" or any other military-(en)forced method the US has managed to come up with. To show that we Respect, Trust and Value their people, their culture, their nation and their sovereignty, we need to start with the children -- providing the elders of the village with a tangible hope for their children, their future.

While the book has its faults (honestly, I respect Mortenson and what he's managed to accomplish. Personally, I'm not sure if he's managed to do it all through a battalion of angels watching over his shoulder [despite his huge ego] or if it's just through sheer, determined will and good luck] or just what -- and, for God's sake, could the guy who wrote it be just a little less Hero Worshiping in his prose? Please?) but Mortensen has genuinely done incredible amounts of good in a region that the U.S., as a Nation Builder, has yet to even come close.

When I read a book that has a section of photo pages as an insert, I never look at the photographs first. I feel it's cheating. It's just me.

I read where he met a woman from DC at a lecture given by Sir Edmund Hillary. She's the daughter of some famous National Geographic guy. They meet, they click in a big way, and six days later, they get married.

The thing is, I recognized the name. But, I think, I knew her. She was just a normal person, no airs of pretension, no "My Father Is Important in Some Circles". Heck, I even spoke to her mother trying to track her down back in... oh, '80 or '81.

Turn to the pages with with the photographs in the book and there's a picture of Mortenson, his wife and their first child.

And danged if it isn't her!

Way back when, she's center left, looking down at the white hat (just beside Grover!)

Maybe, one day, I'll track her down and see how she's really doing.


In the meantime, we're headed off for a 3day show elsewhere. The Boy is House/Catsitting for us, so we hope to return to relatively normal surroundings.

Take care, one and all.

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